Jacky Yuen

Trans. by Nick admussen

Dreamwalkers

I see death in a dream, I see a war
In a dream I see a fly from a crack in the era’s crevasse 
fly into an iron-gray building, dream the glow of memory 
illuminating language, in my dream I see death surrounded

Each person shares the weight of the whole
I also dream of advancing and hesitating, stones
spraying black smoke at the ocean, I dream of feeble, aging wolves
searching for prey to keep living

I see the dark night in a dream, on the street everyone wears raincoats

They stand scattered, their heads lowered, breathing silently
but I don’t know where language is hiding
the characters disappear the moment they’re written on the pillars and walls  

Who will cry out, who will leap
I dream all hope is here
Here: where it falls, flowers blossom
letting life and death meet in dream

Let us dream the dreams of others
like fireflies converging on the river of roof tiles
We have nothing to our name we have removed the last mask
singing a song for the dark nights of Hong Kong

Author’s note: having had nightmare after nightmare, rather than searching for the end of dreams, it’s better to shed hot blood in the dream, and then sing to your heart’s content.

Translator’s note: This poem refers to many revolutionary and transformative artworks, including Lu Xun’s book Nahan (Call to Arms or Outcry, line 13), Gu Cheng’s “One Generation” (line 9), and Cui Jian’s song Yi wu suo you (Nothing to My Name, line 19).

Nick Admussen is an associate professor of Chinese literature at Cornell University.

Jacky Yuen (阮文略) obtained his PhD in Biochemistry from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and he currently teaches Biology at a local high school. He has published four poetry collections, including A Fox Looking Back.